Prospect routs Buffalo Grove
Prospect girls basketball coach Marie Miller says she sounds like a broken record talking about the Knights' balanced offense.
But it's music to the ears of Knights' fans.
They watched five Prospect players score between 8 and 12 points en route to an impressive 56-22 triumph at Buffalo Grove on Tuesday night in the Mid-Suburban East showdown.
The Knights (12-5, 4-2) took a half-game lead over Rolling Meadows (3-2) and Hersey (3-2) while Buffalo Grove (12-8) fell one game back at 3-3.
"I sound like a broken record but I keep saying 'team first, 'me' second'" Miller said. "This is a team win. You saw the energy on the bench and from every kid on the floor. And even our lovely ball girl (nine-year-old Peyton, the daughter of Knights' boys basketball coach John Camardella)."
Senior Ashley Adams led the MSL East leaders with 12 points followed by senior Abbey Danciu (10), sophomore Eliot Dujotrek (9), Jessica Kowalczyk (8) and Kayla Bryne (8). Tia Sadlon, Stephanie Kowalczyk, Helen Siavelis and Sarah Skaggs gave the Knights nine different scorers in their second conference win of 2019.
"We've continued to trust the process, and trust the offense," Miller said. "Things open up when you do that and that's exactly what we've been doing in all of 2019. We were hammering away at it in 2018 but we're finally buying into it and making it happen."
The Knights really made things happen in the second quarter when they extended a 6-4 lead from the first period into a 22-6 cushion at half.
Byrne's 15-footer followed by Dujotrek's 3-pointer made it 11-4. Adams then took a rebound and went coast-to-coast for layup to make it 13-4.
"We've been focusing on winning as a team," Adams said. "We want to win as a team and not focus on ourselves. And it showed in our last two games (Rolling Meadows last Friday) where we've been very well-rounded."
Buffalo Grove, led by juniors Macy Floro (8 points) and Kendra Lee (6) defeated Prospect 46-40 last month.
"Last time we came out slow and let them walk all over us in the first half," Adams added. "This time we came out and showed that weren't going to back down."
Bison coach Steve Kolodziej credited the Knights.
"We got smacked," he said. "It was kind of an ugly and sloppy game but you've got to give Prospect credit. They were hungry and just wanted it more."
Danciu led Prospect with 9 rebounds and Dujotrek had 6.
"We didn't rebound the ball," Kolodziej said. "They killed us on the offensive boards and we didn't help ourselves by missing a lot of shots. We've got some pretty good shooters and they just didn't knock down shots.
"I think we spiraled. We got caught in quicksand and we tried to fight out of it the wrong way and got buried quicker. It's a long season. It's a roller coaster and we'll learn from it and be ready to fight on Friday (hosting Elk Grove)."